Rabbi Moshe Grylak: "Yes, to our chagrin, our aggressive style and the curses and insults that are issued by our own people and media organs are a terrible malady. These things are the cause of tremendous damage in the delicate and complex fabric of relations between the chareidim and the secular populace in the State of Israel. The relative stability of chareidi communal life, in contrast to the “rocking boat” of the general society, causes the secular public to feel that we consider ourselves superior to them and that we are prepared to offend them without compunction. And their attitude toward us is therefore in kind. I will not argue this point." Mishpacha Magazine, "Point of View" (issue 465, June 26).

Orthodox soldier sues cartoonist for demonizing haredi servicemen

I recognize the style of this (Political Haredi) cartoonist. He has been published in the Mishpacha group of magazines. His pen impressed me as being very sarcastic, even when drawing a rather mild scene. Now it seems this artist has come into his own ....

Michael Savage is banned from Britain for speaking truths about Terorism
Now, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer are also Banned from Britain.

""Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, co-founders of the organization Stop Islamization of America, had been invited to speak at a rally of the English Defense League, but the British Home Office informed them Tuesday that they were not welcome in the country after the leftist group “HOPE not hate” initiated a campaign against them.

“The Home Secretary has reached this decision because you have brought yourself within the scope of the list of unacceptable behaviors by making statements that may foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK,” the Home Office letter said, as reported by The Hill.

Geller and Spencer were leaders in the movement to stop the construction of a mosque near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack in New York City. Geller sponsored a poster campaign against Jihad on the New York City Transit System

"In not allowing us into the country solely because of our true and accurate statements about Islam," Geller said, "the British government is behaving like a de facto Islamic state. The nation that gave the world the Magna Carta is dead." ""

26 June 2013

Now these are truly iconic (being the choice word of emphasis being overused in print, online and in newscasts) photos of our top guys surveying the goings on in Syria ... over the last umpteen years! Can you name all the men behind the binoculars?When will they turn in the other direction and see the beautiful Land that G-d gave to Avraham Avinu as an inheritance, to his sons Yitzchak, and Yaakov and all Yaakov's decendants, and once and for all declare that we Jews, have left the countries we wandered into for thousands of years, and finally come home to live on our Land. This is our inheritance and it does not belong to any other people or nation; it belongs to the Jews.

25 June 2013

A YouTube video warning of and decrying child sexual abuse as gone ‘viral’ drawing over 3000 hits in just one day. The video is being published by Jewish Community Watch and was produced by Mendy Pellin is aimed squarely as counselors and staff members in summer camps and delivers a powerful message. Crown Heights Info

"Enough secrets. Enough shame. Enough hurt. Enough confusion. Enough denial. Enough cover-ups. Enough stigma. Enough Child Sexual Abuse."This applies also to possible abuse: "If you see something, say something." Jewish Community Watch: You can help. "We beg of you to help us put an end to this. Stand up for what is right. Stand up for your children."

20 June 2013

"All the Jews in the Land of Israel need, from time to time, to "bench gomel" according to the halachah. The Creator of the World wants a response from the Jews in Israel for His being a shield and guard over the Land of Israel like the sky, and He wants His sons, the Jews, to thank Him in prayer and reading of Psalms for the good that the Creator of the World does, for the great miracles and protection for the Jews in the Land of Israel."

"Male and female soldiers, respect the IDF uniform and don't degrade the uniforms or yourselves. To the Creator of the World, you are the holy of holies as wrapped in talit and tefillin. IDF soldiers, who protect the holy soil and the Jews who are able to pray, to learn Torah and to live in dignity, they're the holy of holies!"

"The government of Israel that was chosen by the people should sit down and discuss the future of the People of Israel and not unimportant things contrary to the Jewish tradition. There's no time to play, government of Israel, you need to be serious and not waste time! You should be ready and prepared on the borders ... You need to prepare the State of Israel for the hundreds of thousands of Jews who will make aliyah to the Land"

"The Creator of the world asks that you not be occupied with insignificant things and stop harassing Torah learners. Those who really learn - should learn, whoever does not want to should enlist in the IDF or national service. Don't harm the learners of Torah who give life and protection to Israel and the world. For the religious in Israel and outside the Land of Israel, it is forbidden, forbidden to make demonstrations. It is forbidden for a religious Jew, keeping tradition, to use demonstrations and violence. You need to go into the synagogues or any other place, in prayer and the recitation of Psalms to the Creator of the World that He will cancel these evil decrees. Demonstrations and fights are idols of the Gentiles, not Jews. Not all the religious are wrong and not all the secular are wrong, God forbid. In every thing there is a little disturbance that doesn't include everyone."

17 June 2013

"Never in the history of Israel has so much energy been invested in something so pointless,” “Our main problem is still the fact that Israel's leaders are not prepared to say simply, that the Land of Israel belongs to the nation of Israel,” he explained. “We need to tell ourselves and the entire world that this land has been ours for 3,000 years.”

09 June 2013

Nothing happens in a vacuum. There is a reason for everything that happens to Bnei Yaakov.Maybe this whole episode at the Kotel is meant to tell us something more than the petty squabbles that have taken place. Maybe it's time to move the davening to another wall of the Temple Mount. The area could be made accessible, although not as comfortable as it is now. This comfort has lead to the congregating of peoples on the plaza which I find distracting to the davening that is supposed to take place. The Kotel is Herod's wall that he built around the Jewish Temple. It is the presence of the Jews that makes it seem Holy, not Herod's stones. Besides, when we build the Third Temple then the stones will be imbued with Holiness.Why don't we also daven/pray at the Southern Wall, where Hulda prayed and held court, and where the gates that once watched over the Israelites as they entered the Temple area. Let these Gates once again watch over her children begging HKB"H to have mercy on them and bring the Moshiach. Let us pray again as humble pilgrims. After all, aren't all the Walls of the Temple Mount sacred to a degree? However, we need the new walls of the Third Temple.

I actually see this as leading to the rebuilding of the Third Temple. Not immediately, but this is a siman, in the same way that the current government is also a siman. Hashem wants to hear our voices, calling out to Him. He wants to hear how much we want the Geula and the Third Beit HaMikdash. So along comes some 'women' who threaten the "the way things have been done at the Kotel," and along comes a new government that seems to threaten the lifestyle of certain members of Klal Yisroel. What is it that HaShem wants of us?But Am Yisrael is more than any one segment of Jews, it's a nation that has been scattered over the globe, in various alien nations with differing lifestyles. Could we sojourn in these countries without absorbing their customs and mores? Like a quilt containing many differing pieces of fabric, Am Yisrael needs to be sewn together on her own land. It takes time, patience, and the proper guidance. We need Mashiach to come and help us mold into a nation of Cohanim, a nation of Holy Jews. We await the return of Moshe Rabbeinu, the Avos and our Imahos. Soon, so say the learned ones.

07 June 2013

With the way the world is going these days, with the added shocking realization that the American Government is now going to be able to snoop into your words, thoughts, and thus your actions, the below may not be so bad. However, censorship of any kind is unwelcome. Take a peek at PRISM

"Satmar's Williamsburg Faction Orders All Hasidim To Agree To Censorship Requirements Ordered ... Those Who Do Not Comply Will Be Expelled" Censorship

The source ... summarized the edict this way:

• Hasidim must sign a form that promises that they will have no Internet access at home.

• Hasidim who must have Internet access for their jobs can only use the specific filtered Internet access Satmar itself approves. (This gives Satmar complete access to every hasid's Internet logs and a list of every website a hasid visits.)

• Hasidim must list the cellphone numbers of every member of their family including children, and all cellphones must be brought to a special committee to verify that they have no Internet capabilities.

• Any hasid who does not fully comply with all the demands set out in this form will no longer be considered a member of the Satmar community and their children will not be allowed to study in Satmar schools or attend Satmar summer camps.

There is much taking place in our times that seems the result of Korach's rebellion.

Imagine

Korach and John Lennon: Defying Borders

Rabbi YY Jacobson

Wise or Boorish? This week’s portion, Korach, relates the tragic story of the mutiny staged by a man named Korach (Numbers chapter 16), who organized a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, chosen by the Almighty to serve respectively as the Prophet and as the High Priest of Israel.The rabbis in the Midrash made a strange observation. “Korah was clever,” the rabbis declare, “so why did he commit such a folly”? What propelled the wise Korach to declare war against Moses and Aron.Their question is intriguing. How did the rabbis know that Korach was clever? Never has this person or his wisdom been mentioned in the Torah before? Whence the certainty that Korach was a wise man? Perhaps he was a fool.The answer, of course, is that the rabbis discerned the wisdom of Korach from this very incident. The very mutiny of Korach against the authority of Moses and Aaron, demonstrates wisdom and perception.But why? On the surface, the mutiny seems to be a symptom of good old jealousy, of an unbridled ego craving power and fame.No DistinctionsFor this we must dissect the argument of Korach.“The entire community is holy,” argued Korach to Moses and Aaron in this week’s portion, “and G-d is within them. Why do you exalt yourselves above the community of G-d?”These are powerful words. G-d is within each and every person. Why does anybody consider themselves spiritually superior to anybody else? Truth and holiness are imbedded in each and every soul; within every pulsating heart flows the cosmic energy, so why is Moses telling people what G-d wants? Why is Aron serving as the exclusive High Priest of G-d?Why does a Jew need Moses to teach him the word of G-d and Aaron to perform the service in the Holy Temple in his stead, when he himself possesses a soul that is a spark of the divine flame? Why can’t he realize his relationship with G-d on his own, without teachers, leaders and priests?Korach is the father of spiritual anarchy. Korach argues against all forms of spiritual authority and leadership, and against any proscribed role in the spiritual community. Korach aspires to create a society free from distinctions, borders and categories. We are all divine, and hence we are all one.Imagine. Imagine there was no Moses, no Aron, no Sanctuary, no Kohanites, Levites or Israelites, and no religious authorities too. It's easy if you try. And the Jews would live as one.And then from the Jews, Korach believed, the holistic energy-flow would travel to all of mankind. “And the world would live as one.”Korach’s message—let us confess—touches a chord in us. There is something about his vision that resonates in our hearts. This is because Korach was dead right (which is why the Torah wants us to know about his ideology.)But he was also dead wrong.From Unity to Multiplicity and BackWe all come from one source. All of us originate in the “womb” of G-d, so to speak, where we are indeed singular. Before creation, there was only undefined unity. There were no borders, definitions or distinctions. No heaven, no earth and no countries. No teachers and students. No cultures, nations and tribes. All of us were submerged in the singular unity of the Endless Light.On our deepest level, we crave to recreate this wholesomeness in our lives. We yearn for our egos to melt away in the singularity of existence. Remember the sense of ecstasy you felt in the good old times sitting with your friends in middle of the night, playing the music. There was no you or I; only the music.Each of us, in our own way, pines to go back to that pre-creation paradigm of unity. We want to imagine that we were never created. Imagine…But—lo and behold—created we were…Modern Age SpiritualityThe idea that all souls are the same was Korach’s mistake, and it is one of the mistakes of modern new-age spirituality. We are accustomed to thinking that definitions create barriers, and barriers cause mistrust and hatred. We are convinced that to be spiritual means to have no borders.But creation was the act of making borders. From unity came multiplicity. From a single undefined G-d, came an infinitely complex and diverse universe. Diversity is sown into the very fabric of existence. No two flakes of snow are alike; no two people are alike. There are tens of millions of different species of plants and animals. And there are the inherent divisions between people, such as male and female, body and soul, and the specific divisions into nations, cultures and individuals.Why did G-d create multiplicity? Because the deepest unity is the unity found within diversity. If we are all the same, unity is no achievement. The truest unity is achieved when differentiations and demarcations are imposed upon the primordial oneness, and its component parts are each given a distinct role in existence, complementing each other. Like notes in a ballad, each of us represents a unique and distinct note, and together we recreate a cosmic Divine symphony, not by singing the same note, but by expressing our individual note as an indispensible part of the song. Every individual existence is part of a symphonious expression of the singular essence of its Creator. In this world we must achieve unity within diversity.For the unity of humankind we need one G-d; but for G-d's unity to be complete we need human diversity, each individual fulfilling his or her role in existence, sharing with others their unique contribution, and learning from others the wisdom they lack on their own.Our differences must not divide us; on the contrary, our differences complete us.This is true on a political and sociological level as well. Many believe that worldwide anarchy could lead to worldwide peace. Yet anarchy is never peaceful, because conflict in the world is not the result of the division of our planet into superimposed countries and cultures. Conflict is the result of the truth that there exist inherent differences between peoples and when these differences compete, conflict is born. Therefore, our role as humans is not to deny that there are distinctions, but rather to create those types of borders and boundaries that will foster respect, unity and love within the inherent diversity of mankind.If we create unity by denying that there are any differences between us, our unity will be skin-deep and short lived, once we realize that there are indeed distinctions. Besides, by denying our differences, we will deprive each other of what each of us can give the other which the other lacks. Real unity is one that is acheived within our diversity, or as Robert Frost wrote: Good fences good neighbors make.ImagelessAnd it goes one step deeper. Since G-d has no image, the only way a world filled with images can grasp His unity is by diverse images integrating, for each of them captures a part of the truth, none of them captures it all. Together we recreate the oneness.To experience undefined unity in a world of definition, diversity is the only way. By the integration of diverse forces we capture that transcendental unity.FusionThe Chabad school of Jewish spirituality takes it a step deeper.G-d can’t be defined by unity or by multiplicity. Just as He transcends plurality, He also transcends unity. Therefore, it is only through the fusion of unity and multiplicity—through a place which transcends both of them—that we can connect to the true undefined essence of G-d.If you choose unity and “worship” it, you are clinging to one aspect of G-d. Conversely, if you embrace the ethos multiplicity, you are acknowledging another aspect of G-d. Only in the fusion of the two, only in discovering the unity within multiplicity, and the multiplicity within the unity, do you touch the undefined essence of G-d, which transcends and integrates all-ness and oneness, where nothingness and something-ness are one.Swallowed and ConsumedWhat was the end of the Korach saga?Korach and his colleagues were swallowed by the earth. The 250 leaders of Israel that joined his mutiny were consumed by a flame. This is a psychological description of what happened to many an idealist who attempted to live by Korach’s mythical unity and by John Lennon’s Imagine and imagination. It occurred to a generation of young passionate and beautiful Americans who worshipped and romanticized unity at the expense of all forms of authority, borders and distinctions.The harsh, competitive reality of earth “swallowed” up much of their young idealism and selflessness. Their passion ascended in the flames of time, as they themselves were absorbed by the self-serving and egocentric demands of planet earth. From beneath the crust of the earth we can still recognize stretched out arms, silently asking the question, what happened to all of the love?For the love that defies borders is short lived. It ascends in the flames of ecstasy and nothing of it remains in the harsh realities of planet earth. Only love and unity that recognizes diversity, borders and categories, will allow heaven and earth to touch lips with each other.(This essay is based on an address by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1957 and 1971, published in Likkutei Sichot, vol. 18 pp. 202-211)

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Ein Od Milvado

LIVING in Eretz Israel is the equivalent of all the Mitzvot of the Torah (Sifri, Parashat Re'eh, TOSEFTA, AVODA ZARA 5:2)

Fortunate is he who merits in his life to FIX HIS RESIDENCE in Eretz HaKodesh (Zohar Hakadosh Iii 72b) and remove from your heart this false belief that a man has more blessings outside the land (Alshich Hakadosh, Ki Tavo 28:6)